Aesculus californica
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Botanical Name: Aesculus californica
Botanical Name: Aesculus californica
Common Name: California Buckeye
- Showy in bloom. Will drop its leaves in response to heat and drought, revealing attractive branches in late summer through winter. All parts are toxic.
- Plant Family: Hippocastanaceae
- Plant Type: Tree
- Height by Width: 30' H x 18' W
- Growth Habit: Tree
- Deciduous/Evergreen: Summer/Winter deciduous
- Growth Rate: Moderate
- Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
- Soil Preference: Adaptable
- Water Requirements: Drought-tolerant to occasional
- Cold Hardy to: 5,100'
- Flower Season: Spring
- Flower Color: White
- Endangered?: Not listed
- Distribution: Central & so. Northwest CA, no. & central Central CA, so. Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehachapi Range, sw Mojave Desert, foothills in Great Central Valley
- Natural Habitat: Dry slopes, canyons, borders of streams below 5,100'
- Care and Maintenance
- History
- Introduced into cultivation in California by Theodore Payne.
- From California Native Plants', Theodore Payne's 1941 catalog: "A small deciduous tree forming a broad rounded top. Leaves large, palmate, divided into 5 to 7 leaflets. Flowers white, sometimes tinted pink, borne in large cylindrical clusters. Very striking in bloom. Gallon cans, 50c; 5 gallon cans, $1.75. Bare roots October to February -- 3 to 4 feet, $2.00; 4 to 5 feet, $2.50; 5 to 6 feet, $3.00."
- Other Names
- References
- Bornstein, Carol, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien. California Native Plants for the Garden. Los Olivos, CA: Cachuma Press. 2005.
- Links